Heaven is a place on earth

I read somewhere that it is a sin to bemoan the facts that we are human and that we are earthbound.
This past week, my wife Jan visited me on the little farm house I rent in the Yakima Valley. It was great, of course, to have Jan share my little home away from home for the first time. It was heaven on earth that she enjoyed it as much as I do. Differently, but as much.
It was heavenly to watch our two dogs play in the big yard, and begin transforming themselves into “country dogs” before our eyes. And there really wasn’t anything magical or supernatural about their transformation (or ours) into more natural, countrified creatures, even if only for a few days.
We went out one evening with my friend, Patricia, to collect culls from the recently harvested pear orchard next door. The fun we had collecting our basket of pears, made me realize the we are not all that far removed from our hunter-gatherer ancestors, and that embedded in the act of harvesting is a commonality and a basis for community that we can tap even now in our busy, high tech world.